“Activists” contra democracy

the dangers of rightwing activism and its strategic disavowal

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5752/P.2237-9967.2026v15e38010

Keywords:

activism, far-right violence, trolling of progressive activists, intersectional analysis, social media

Abstract

The word activism tends to conjure different imagery depending on the institutional and geopolitical context. However, in left progressive circles it has usually connoted something challenging towards or resistant to injustice, and aligned with broadly progressive and democratic values. As recently as 2012, social media were being lauded as a new means of progressive social change in a bouquet of other tools against autocracy in the Global South. Based on original interviews over the past five years, this article outlines starkly, and from an intersectional socialist-feminist perspective, the dangers of allowing a warm fuzzy conception of activism to divert attention from the fascist politics being enacted online across vast swathes of the Global South, including in Brazil and India.

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Author Biographies

Shakuntala Banaji, London School of Economics and Political Science, London, United Kingdom

Department of Media and Communications, London School of Economics and Political Science, London, UK.

Lucianna Furtado, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais

Pós-doutoranda e professora colaboradora do Programa de Pós-Graduação em Comunicação Social da Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (PPGCOM-UFMG), com bolsa do Programa Institucional de Pós-Doutorado da Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (PIPD-Capes). Doutora e mestre pelo PPGCOM-UFMG. Co-líder do Coragem - Grupo de Pesquisa em Comunicação, Raça e Gênero.

References

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Published

2026-06-02

How to Cite

BANAJI, Shakuntala; FURTADO, Lucianna. “Activists” contra democracy: the dangers of rightwing activism and its strategic disavowal. Dispositiva, Belo Horizonte, v. 15, p. e38010, 2026. DOI: 10.5752/P.2237-9967.2026v15e38010. Disponível em: https://periodicos.pucminas.br/dispositiva/article/view/38010. Acesso em: 5 jun. 2026.

Issue

Vol. 15 (2026): Tema Livre e Dossiê temático: Nostalgia(s) nas mídias

Section

TRANSLATION

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Copyright (c) 2026 Shakuntala Banaji; Lucianna Furtado

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